


shockwaves

by kaci3PO



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, expanding Vibe's powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 06:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5280674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaci3PO/pseuds/kaci3PO
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"Listen, Ramon. Barry Allen is my ticket to getting my daughter back from Zoom. I don't have time for him to be held hostage by some petty small time metahuman who got lucky. And right now you're all we've got to get him back. So listen to me carefully and try to keep up."</em>
</p>
<p>Barry gets kidnapped by a villain-of-the-week, leaving Cisco as the only metahuman hope Team Flash has of getting him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	shockwaves

It's not like they have a plan for this. In retrospect they probably should've, but the Vibe thing is recent and before that, they all sort of figured that if Barry ever got kidnapped by a metahuman, the rest of them as regular humans were pretty much screwed. It certainly still feels like they are, Vibe or no Vibe, because what's Cisco supposed to do? See things at the bad guy? Even his _superpower_ is a supporting role and Cisco's always been fine with that. He doesn't _want_ to be the guy out there running around punching things. But what else are they supposed to do? For better or for worse, he's the closest thing to a superhero they've got.

"According to the GPS in Barry's suit," Caitlin says in his earpiece, "he's being held somewhere in the building on your right."

Cisco takes a step towards it, hesitates, and carefully readjusts the cowl covering half his face. He'd hardly call it a super suit; Barry's is customized to his powers and fitted with tech for a dozen different emergency scenarios. This one doesn't even fit him properly and its sole concession to his abilities is the fact that it has fingerless gloves.

"What am I supposed to do, Caitlin?" he asks plaintively. He's not trying to be pathetic, but this really isn't in his area of expertise.

He hears her start to say something, but she's cut off by Harry forcefully grabbing the mic (if the loud feedback in his ear is any indication) and answering, "Listen, Ramon. Barry Allen is my ticket to getting my daughter back from Zoom. I don't have time for him to be held hostage by some petty small time metahuman who got lucky. And right now you're all we've got to get him back. So listen to me carefully and try to keep up. Your powers, these vibes, you said Stein said you were seeing through the vibrations of the universe, correct?"

"Yes," Cisco says tersely. He'll argue with Harry later, if he makes it out of this.

"Put your hands on that light pole. Don't give me that look, Ramon, I can see you on CCTV. Put your hands on the damn light pole." Begrudgingly, Cisco does, then shoots a look in the direction he assumes the camera is filming from. 

"Now vibrate."

Cisco takes his hands off the pole and crosses them across his chest. "You want me to _what_?"

"Your powers are based on vibration," Harry says impatiently. "You've seen what Barry can do with vibration, haven't you? Yours are based on shock waves instead of speed, but the principle's the same. Put your hands on the light pole and vibrate."

"Quit saying that like it's easy!" Cisco snaps. "I have no idea how to—"

"And Barry did? You watched him develop his powers, didn't you? And there are a lot of them he has now that he didn't know about at first. There's no handbook to being a metahuman, Ramon. It's trial and error. Now quit being an _error_ and _try_!"

Out of sheer frustration, Cisco sticks a hand on the light pole, not even bothering to look at it, and glares at the camera. "See?" he hisses. "I can't do—"

There's a loud _snap_ as metal separates from metal and Cisco whips his head around to watch as the steel shatters into pieces, crashing onto the sidewalk. He gapes at it, barely registering Caitlin's excited congratulations in his ear and Harry's smug, "Now get in there and rescue Barry," as the light bulb explodes on impact with the ground.

"What did I—" he starts, then stops. He's a scientist, he's fully aware of exactly what he just did, but he's gone numb as he watches, unable to fully comprehend it.

Something about the numbness gives him the courage to enter the building, following Caitlin's directions down into the earth as he goes lower and lower in search of Barry. It feels like it takes forever to reach the solid steel door Caitlin directs him to, every corner feeling like a trap waiting to spring. He doesn't know how Barry does this so often. He never wants to do this again, new ability or not.

Vibrating the door isn't exactly easy, but he does it without much effort thanks to Harry's goading. It shatters before him and he has half a second to wonder why Barry hasn't rescued himself, since he can do this, too, when he spots Barry curled up on the floor, barely conscious. He steps forward, not even thinking about anything but getting to his friend, when Barry's captor steps between them and holds up one long, green finger.

"Ah-ah-ah," he says, wagging it at him like he's been a bad dog. "You broke my door. That's not very nice. Didn't anyone ever teach you that as a guest, it's best to be polite?"

"Don't let him touch you," Barry says weakly. "He's poisonous."

"Martin Locusta, at your service." He holds out his hand to Cisco like he expects Cisco to shake it. "And who might you be? It's always nice to put a name to the death."

"Vibe," Cisco answers, and he sees Barry's head snap up as best as he can under the circumstances, eyes wide.

"Vibe," Locusta repeats. "That explains the door. It was such a nice one, too." He frowns, overly dramatic. He reminds Cisco of a clown gone mad.

"So let me take the Flash and I won't have to destroy anymore of your stuff."

It happens so fast Cisco barely has a chance to register it. Locusta reaches for him, moving quicker than anyone not connected to the Speed Force ought to. Cisco — well, he somehow _feels_ it, from the split second that Locusta starts moving Cisco knows just by the disturbance in the air. It's like the way that someone with their eyes closed can usually still tell if someone is moving near them, except so much more acute.

He jumps back and instinctively throws his hand up. If he were like Barry, if he could move so fast that time slowed down and he had time to think, he'd realize what a mistake this could be. He's practically offering his skin to a guy whose touch is poison. But that's not what happens.

What happens is this: the second his arm locks into position, Locusta goes flying backwards into the wall, slamming into it like he's been thrown. Cisco freezes, eyes going wide, and stares at him. He starts to stand, and on instinct Cisco holds his arm up again. He feels it this time, now that he's paying attention — there's something coming out of him, radiating outward from the center of his palm. It's like Hartley's sonic vibrations only it's actually coming from _him_ , not any wearable tech. Locusta buckles under it as Cisco carefully crosses the room, keeping one hand trained on the poisoner as he bends to get his free hand around Barry's waist and guide him from the room. They clear the doorway and Cisco keeps one eye and hand trained on Locusta as he says, "Caitlin, get us out of here."

"Back up the stairs the way you came," she says. "Unless...exactly how confident are you with this vibration thing?"

He glances over at Barry, who's drooping listlessly in his arm, and says, "Confident enough."

An hour later, Cisco's at Barry's bedside, watching as Caitlin adjusts his IV drip. She hasn't fussed over him yet at all; he knows that'll come once Barry's awake and she has a moment to consider all the tests she wants to run on him to find out more about his new powers, but for now she's preoccupied and Cisco prefers it that way.

He reaches out and carefully covers Barry's hand with his, smiling to himself when Barry reflexively threads their fingers together. When he looks up, Caitlin is watching him thoughtfully and that can't lead anywhere good.

"You can run tests on me later," he sighs. "We both need to talk to Harry anyway. Find out what he knows. Or suspects."

"I know," she says softly. "But that wasn't what I was going to say."

He bites his lip and watches Barry's chest rise and fall. It's more even now than it was in that room and Cisco relaxes back into his chair at the sight of it, careful to not let go of Barry's hand.

"Cisco—"

"I know, Caitlin," he interrupts.

"He should be awake soon. Be careful," she says anyway, then gives his shoulder a squeeze and leaves the room.

Cisco doesn't know how long he sits there alone with Barry, stroking his thumb over Barry's knuckles, but he feels it when Barry wakes up, the shift of him moving, the displacement of air. He swallows and meets Barry's eyes hesitantly.

"Hey," he says gently. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," Barry says. "How did—" He stops, his expression going from confused to worried to amazed in the span of a heartbeat. "You saved me."

Cisco shrugs. "Someone had to. I was the only available metahuman."

"You _vibed_!" Barry says, slightly awe struck. "Did you know you could do that stuff? You should've told me!"

"I didn't," Cisco admits. "The door thing — Harry gave me a crash course right before I showed up to save you. The...hand thing...I honestly have no idea. I just panicked and I knew I had to get us out of there and it just _happened_."

"You were amazing, Cisco," Barry says. He sits up, removing his IV and disconnecting himself from Caitlin's monitors. "That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen."

"I—" For all that Barry's talking about him like he's a hero, Cisco can't help but feel helpless. "It was an accident," he says. "I didn't know what I was doing."

"I never do," Barry says lightly. "That's what I have you and Caitlin for. To be the brains. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm a smart guy, but when you're out there...it's hard to think."

Cisco squeezes Barry's hand. "I'm glad you're okay. We thought...none of us thought we could actually get you back."

"But you did," Barry reminds him. He stands, and since they're still holding hands, Cisco feels compelled to stand, too. "You're a hero, man."

Cisco meets Barry's eyes and for a long moment, they stare at each other. Cisco's fingers tighten subconsciously and Barry must've forgot, because he looks down at their joined hands like he's only just remembered, then back up at Cisco. He smiles.

"I'm not doing this because you saved me," he says. "This isn't — I'm thankful, but this isn't gratitude. This is — I've wanted to do this for awhile. Okay?"

"Sure," Cisco says idly, even though he doesn't understand at all.

Barry's lips are soft against his, a gentle press to give him a chance to back out if he's not comfortable. He presses forward, closing the space between their bodies. Barry's free hand curls at the base of his neck, playing with his hair, and Cisco lets out a soft moan against Barry's mouth. His hair is kind of a _thing_ for him. Always has been.

He goes up on his tiptoes to get a better angle for the kiss, taking Barry's bottom lip between both of his. He feels Barry smile against his mouth and he can't help it, he smiles too, which makes it difficult to keep kissing but they press on anyway. He backs Barry against the hospital bed, so Barry sits back down on the edge of it. Cisco doesn't have to reach up quite so much in order to kiss him now, so he settles both hands on Barry's waist and strokes at the bare skin of his sides. He's shirtless pretty much half his time in S.T.A.R. Labs, so it shouldn't feel so new and exciting, but Barry's skin is a new canvas and Cisco's fingers itch to start painting.

He can feel Barry, hard against him where Cisco has settled between his thighs. He wants so badly to touch, to find out if Barry's fast in that way, too, and if so how they can work on slowing him down. But not here, not when Caitlin could show back up at any second wanting to run tests on one or both of them. Not a mere four doors down from Harry's makeshift sleeping quarters.

"Not that—" he pauses, trying to catch his breath, and smiles at the dazed look on Barry's face. "Not that I want to stop," he says, with difficulty. "But I've got an apartment much more suited to this sort of thing."

"And what makes you think I put out on the first date?" Barry asks teasingly. Cisco might take his statement more seriously if he didn't have his fingers under the waistband of Cisco's jeans.

"Technically this isn't even a first date," Cisco points out. "Unless we're counting our friendship, in which case this is like...date three hundred and sixteen."

"Fair enough," Barry says happily, and kisses him again.

**Author's Note:**

> IDK, I wanted to expand on Cisco's powers, because in the comics he can actually disrupt the Speed Force which sure as heck sounds like it would be useful in fighting Zoom. Someone come talk to me about these two nerds, I am getting ridiculous about this.


End file.
